Bates and Bates Investigates
by Mellowmom
Summary: John and Anna have left service. And instead of the hotel by the sea, fate has pushed them towards a different kind of business.
1. Chapter 1

Bates and Bates Investigate….

_**Here's a possible multi-chapter fic about another way out of service for John and Anna. It's been mentioned before as a dream spin-off from Downton Abbey once the series ends…and so I thought I'd give it a shot and try to write an alternative to the Bates hotel by the sea.**_

_**Hope you enjoy it. If you do, please drop a review… actually even if you don't feel free to leave a comment. **_

_**Per the usual… John and Anna Bates do not belong to me, nor do any other citizenry of Downton Abbey . They belong to Julian Fellowes. I'm only borrowing the characters for this fic. **_

It was a chilly winter morn in London. John gazed out of the window from their newly leased office that fronted on to Oxford Street. He couldn't help exhaling on the cold glass smiling as it fogged over. On an impulse he raised his hand and traced a heart with his index finger upon it, chuckling over his primitive drawing.

He looked at it and shook his head in wonder… Who would have thought a man in his early 50's would be so daft as to doodle on a window and enjoy it so much. Such was the power and lightness that his wife, Anna gave to his being. He was young in spirit again, if not in chronological age, taking pleasure in things that his contemporaries would think silly and a serious warning sign that he was losing his faculties.

Just as he was about to add JB + AB to his artwork, Anna walked into the front office.

"Mr. Bates, have you seen the new ledger?" Anna queried, her head buried in a piece of mail that had come with the morning post.

Startled, John took a quick swipe with his hand across the window and wiped out all traces of his brief descent into childhood.

"Well last time I saw it it was in the center drawer of the desk in the back office. Have you checked there already for it?"

Anna looked up from what she'd been reading and flashed her husband a quick smile.  
>"Actually, no. I hadn't checked there. Thanks, love. I do recall now seeing it there yesterday. Seeing we're the only two here, I doubt it grew legs and walked off elsewhere. I'll go fetch it and we can go over our budget for the month."<p>

That said, Anna turned and walked away from John, who stared at her until she disappeared into the other room.

Alone for a brief moment until she returned, John admonished himself to stop thinking about the evening before with his lovely wife and concentrate on business for now. He had long given into the fact that he was totally besotted with Anna, a fool for her, with her wishes his command. But now he had to rein in those thoughts and passions that she aroused in him and literally get down to business.

They had just left service a fortnight ago, after selling the London House and pooling their savings with the proceeds from the sale to invest in their own business… Bates and Bates Detective Agency.

The choice had been a difficult one. The question was not whether or not to leave service, but rather what to do once they left. Their dearest desire had been to open a hotel somewhere near Downton, working together side by side, eventually surrounded by their children.

But that dream was shattered in a way when some fertility tests John had taken six months ago revealed that he would be unable to father any children. They had both cried over the diagnosis, and it was hard to tell which one of them took it hardest. But together, they had come through their disappointment. So while the hotel was still an option for them, it had lost a bit of its luster.

The idea of a detective agency however had been an option simmering on the back burner for quite some time. It was initially born out of Anna's great sleuthing skills in acquiring evidence which eventually resulted in her husband's release from prison. John also exhibited an uncanny ability to locate missing and/or hiding witnesses and "persuade" them to tell the truth during an investigation. He also was good at hiding himself and leaving no trace of his whereabouts, which would prove a useful talent if there was a dangerous criminal that needed to be followed.

So the idea of Bates and Bates Investigates came together several months ago. John spent his half days looking into leasing some office space for their new venture, while Anna threw herself into research regarding what it takes to set up a detective agency…licensing, training and testing. Once they were both convinced that they could meet all the requirements, the decision was made to move forward to leave service and two weeks ago their detective agency opened for business.

Anna had just walked into the room with the ledger in hand when the phone in the front office rang. John and Anna looked at each other with raised brows and John indicated that she should answer it.

"Bates and Bates Detective Agency. This is Mrs. Anna Bates speaking. How may we help you?"

John smiled when he heard Anna refer to herself as Mrs. Bates. Even though they had been married for going on 7 years, he still had moments where he couldn't believe that they were truly man and wife, and that Anna had chosen him out of all the blokes in the universe to be her husband. Hearing herself call herself by her married name always gave Bates a bit of a thrill, once he got over the shock of hearing it.

While lost in his reverie, John missed the details of the call and only heard Anna say goodbye to who he hoped was their first client.

"Well, I must say, I never thought someone from Downton would be our first customer!" Anna mused out loud.

"From Downton? John queried. "Who was it and what do they need us to do? Was it Lord Grantham?" Bates was concerned that someone at the Abbey would be trying to acquire their services as detectives. What mystery or mishap had befallen someone associated with the Crawleys?

"No, not Lord Grantham. In fact it's no one from upstairs."

"Then who is it? What needs to be done?"

Anna's gaze turned from the phone and directly into John's eyes.

"It was Miss Baxter… Mr. Molesley has disappeared!"

**Thanks for reading this so far. If you like it and think I should continue, a short review would be a great way to indicate the story should go on. So, shall we find out together what's happened to Molesley?**


	2. Chapter 2 - Molesley

_**A very short chapter from Molesley's POV, with more to come shortly. I've never written Molesley before so this is a new exercise for me. No Anna or Mr. Bates in this chapter, but they'll be in the next one and the next one and… you get my drift.**_

_**Thank you so very much to those of you who took the time to send me a review. It means a lot and your encouragement to continue on with this story is appreciated.**_

Joseph Molesley opened his eyes with a start and was very much alarmed when he realized that he couldn't see a thing. He was immersed in a pitch black world. A little high-pitched whimper emerged from his mouth as the thought briefly flashed across his mind that he'd been blinded in some unfortunate accident. It would just be his luck, he mused. But, his fears slowly disappeared as his eyes adjusted to his darkened surroundings. He could barely make out the outline of some furniture... a desk, a chair, and what looked to be a small cot of some sort.

He was laying on the floor, the material construction of which became quite obvious to him when he got a splinter as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Blimey," he yelled… as he picked at his hand in the dark…hoping to find enough of the tip to pull it from his palm. "That's going to leave a mark…" His mind began to spin forward to the worst case scenario…What if he couldn't get it out, and it got infected, and he got blood poisoning or gangrene and they'd have to cut off his hand!

"Get a grip, man!" Joseph said out loud in an effort to calm his negative thoughts. "It's just a splinter, and …Ow!" he yelped out loud.

Molesley felt a sudden stabbing pain in the back of his head. Reaching up instinctively to try and find the cause of his additional discomfort, his fingers found a large lump. It was a rather big goose egg and very tender to the touch. But how did he get it? Molesley's mind continued to work overtime wracking his brain trying to remember what he had done or had done to him that left him in this rather precarious situation.

Alone in a room with no lights, a large bump on his head, a sliver in his hand, and not a clue why or where he was. He began taking deep slow breaths in an effort to calm his racing heart and push down the panic that he felt building up inside. It was a technique that Phyllis, ah Miss Baxter, had taught him to employ when he felt he was giving in to the stress and pressures of the job. He wished she was there with him now to calm his nerves.

"Steady on…steady on", he repeated to himself with each breath as he attempted to gain control of his emotions. "Think, Man… What happened to bring you to this place?"


End file.
